COMMERCE AND Industry Minister Piyush Goyal Wednesday said significant progress has been made in talks with the European Union (EU) to reach a free trade agreement.
New Delhi is keen to wrap up the India-EU Free Trade Agreement. The EU provides a stable market for a range of Indian merchandise exports. India’s exports to the EU in the last financial year stood at $82 billion, slightly lower than to the US ($86.5 billion).
“We have made significant progress during my three-day visit to Brussels from October 26-28. We have agreed to close 10 out of 20 chapters. Another four or five chapters have principally been broadly decided and on more and more issues, we are leading towards convergence so that when their team visits next week for the next round of negotiations or when the trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic visits India in the end of November or December, we should be in a position to make significant and substantial progress towards closure. We are working towards a fair, equitable and balanced FTA, recognising mutual sensitivities and strengths and working in a spirit of partnership to promote trade, investment, technology flow, mobility etc,” Goyal told reporters.
In a press statement, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said, “Both sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to conclude the India-EU FTA by the end of 2025, following the clear direction from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during the College of Commissioners’ visit to New Delhi in February 2025.”
While the EU has stressed the importance of automobiles and beverages in the trade deal, the Commerce and Industry Ministry in a statement on Wednesday said issues related to steel, automobiles, carbon tax or CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) and other EU regulations still require further discussion, as these “have higher sensitivities”.
This comes as India is pushing to secure more markets amid steep US tariffs on Indian products that have begun to hurt exports. India’s goods exports to the US slipped 12 per cent in September, but higher shipments to the UAE and China resulted in over 6 per cent overall growth.
US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. This will be Trump’s first meeting in his second term with Xi, and there are expectations he will sign a trade deal. It is in this backdrop, an agreement with the EU and the US assumes greater significance for India.
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“Talks are happening with multiple trade partners. I will be visiting New Zealand next week to close the free trade agreement. We will sign a deal with the EU when we reach a balanced agreement that recognises sensitivities on both sides,” Goyal said, stressing that a good deal is more important for India than any deadline.
A statement released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Wednesday said there was intensive engagement to explore possible landing zones on the outstanding issues, and there was also a good discussion on India’s concerns over non-tariff measures and new EU regulations.
“During the negotiations, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal emphasised the need for preferential treatment for India’s key asks, particularly those relating to labour-intensive sectors. Both sides agreed to work closely to finalise the non-sensitive industrial tariff lines. They also agreed that issues related to steel, automobiles, CBAM and other EU regulations still require further discussion, as these have higher sensitivities,” the statement said.
To advance the ongoing discussions, the EU technical team led by the Director-General for Trade will visit India next week with the objective of achieving a constructive conclusion based on the potential solutions identified over the past two days, the Ministry said.
